Fluoxetine

Two Weeks & Holidays

Despite being named for the generic form of Prozac, Fluoxetine exhibits none of its moniker’s medicinal properties. Which isn’t to say there’s no therapeutic virtue in the local quartet’s warm, jagged barroom rock augmented by flashes of Neil Young guitar immolation, crisp AM radio pop, and ad hoc philosophical wordplay. Much of Two Weeks & Holidays is offered in a spirit that alternates between commiseration and resilience. “Reclaim Your Vices” channels Rust Never Sleeps as frontman Ryan Morris unleashes a pained indictment of genteel indifference. By contrast, McCartney-style gem “I Think It’s Gonna Rain” is a finger-popping exercise in making the best of bad things. Ace lead guitarist Landis Armstrong (McLemore Avenue, Small Stars) crosses Mark Knopfler’s flow with the high desert tone of Giant Sand as he tears through “In This Room.” If forging a compelling sound from the sum of its influences isn’t enough to cinch the deal, Fluoxetine also goes great with domestic beer.

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This article appears in November 7 • 2008.

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Greg Beets was born in Lubbock on the day Richard Nixon was elected president. He has covered music for the Chronicle since 1992, writing about everyone from Roky Erickson to Yanni. Beets has also written for Billboard,Uncut, Blurt, Elmore, and Pop Culture Press. Before his digestive tract cried uncle, he co-published Hey! Hey! Buffet!, an award-winning fanzine about all-you-can-eat buffets.